Anthropology

The study of Anthropology promotes an understanding of self and of all humanity by exploring human nature from its beginnings to the present.

There is perhaps no single field of study that can better prepare students to cope with the challenges of the 21st century than anthropology. Confronted with increasing global population, rapid technological change, rising tides of nationalism, and economic globalization, many look to the future with uncertainty. Anthropology provides understanding and answers based on a century of exploring the development of human nature, society, and culture. It is the only social science that seeks to understand both human biological and cultural variation in the past and in the present. Encompassing a wide range of subjects spanning cultural and linguistic anthropology, physical anthropology, archaeology and museum studies, Anthropology is unique among the many fields that study humanity.

Our Anthropology Department at California State University, Chico

The Anthropology Department was established during the 1967-1968 academic year and offers BA, MA, and minor degrees in the discipline of anthropology along with four certificate programs: Applied Cultural Anthropology, Cultural Resource Management, Forensic Anthropology, and Museum Studies. Since its inception, the department has had a strong four-field approach to the study of anthropology that includes archaeology, cultural, physical, and linguistic anthropology as well as a fifth field, which is museum studies. We are fortunate to have well qualified faculty with specializations in one or more of the fields of anthropology.

Our department emphasizes hands-on education and has been recognized by the University for excellence as a High-Quality Learning Environment. We take pride in the rigorous standards and high quality of our curriculum and the educational opportunities we offer, which are supported in large part by a number of teaching laboratories: the Human Identification Laboratory, the Physical Anthropology Laboratory, the Archaeology Laboratory (which also houses Zooarchaeology and Dental Increment Laboratories) the Conservation Laboratory, the Ethnography Laboratory in conjunction with the Multi-media Laboratory, and an additional type of teaching laboratory, the Museum of Anthropology.

All of our faculty members embrace the teacher-scholar pedagogical model; students have expressed their satisfaction with our faculty and the education they have received. Recognition of our commitment to teaching has been a long standing tradition exemplified by faculty who have received the following honors:

Outstanding Teaching Award

Pearls of Wisdom Teaching Award

Outstanding Professor Award

University-Wide Master Teacher

Professional Achievement Honors

Invited Keynote Speaker for the College of BSS Colloquium Series

The educational experiences our program offers extend beyond the classroom into the field. Be it carrying out archaeological excavations, forensic recovery cases, ethnographic work in the U.S. and abroad, museum work, or a host of training opportunities in agencies and institutions at all levels, students acquire professional experience and skills they can take with them upon graduating. Our alumni have gone on to MA and PhD programs, and a number of our graduates are professionals in anthropology-related careers.

2015 Clan Destiny - Attention All Alumni

The Anthropology department is preparing production of the 2015 Clan Destiny. We are asking you, the alumni, to submit pictures, updates, and stories about your life so that we may publish your accomplishments.